A League of Her Own
by sepkiakore
Summary: It's the 1st ever worldwide Sorcerers' League. Big prizes? Showing off? Free food for contenders? Of course, Lina's there! But a plot to use contestants for power suggests that the plans behind the event may not exactly be fun and games...
1. Setting the Stage

            Lina yawned loudly and she tried to stretch the sleep out of her muscles. She was surprised she had gotten any rest at all, with Gourry and his incessant loud snoring. Turning her gaze towards the other side of the room, she saw her old friend sprawled out as usual across his entire bed. She smiled and shook her head before hopping out of her own and making her way to open a window. One simple smell of the air from outside hinted that a glorious day was at hand. Of course it would be. The most powerful sorcerers in the world would make sure of that. Today was the opening ceremonies of the Sorcerers League, where all the mages would come together and compete. It was the first time that anyone had ever attempted such an event like this, with no real known reason for it. To see who really is the most powerful magic user in the world, perhaps. Lina couldn't help but be excited about this. The few prizes she had actually heard of were amazing. Rare treasures from ancient times, powerful talismans and amplifiers, scores of money, bragging rights. What could be better? Lina wondered what the actual tasks would be like. She highly doubted there would be any combat between people. It would be far too dangerous. It must involve fighting some mystical creatures and finding some sort of item at the top of some treacherous terrain. Yeah, the usual.

            She was excited especially to see a few old friends. Amelia was coming as an honorary guest, which wasn't too surprising. Lina couldn't wait to give her the gift she had made for Amelia's 18th birthday. Zelgadis was rumored to be attending as well. She wasn't sure why. Maybe he wanted to compete, or most likely he wanted to harass some of the mages if they could cure him. That wouldn't be surprising either.

            She let out a long sigh and stretched. Five years… Hard to believe it had been five years already since they all met. But then again, when you have adventures like they do, time really does fly. Everyone has grown so much, she thought. Lina herself had a sudden growth spurt and grew a few inches. Her face had a new pretty glow of maturity, not that her skin wasn't healthy anyway. She was built different than other people, after all. But she was the same old hot-tempered Lina. No change there. What fun would that be? Amelia must've changed a lot, too. After going separate ways, the friends promised to see each other every few months. However, the past year was a busy one, and it was just short of 10 months since they had gotten together. This was a perfect opportunity. Well, first things first.

            A loud, strange snore came and interrupted her thoughts. She turned and walked over to Gourry's bed. Looming over him, she thought of a way to wake him up. 

            "I know." She leaned over, opened one of his eyes, and screamed. At this, Gourry must've leapt three feet into the air before landing with a thud on the hardwood floor. He then popped up a few moments later, looking peeved and tired.

            "Lina! What the hell is wrong with you?"

            "Time to get up, jellyfish," she smirked. Gourry turned to look out the window, seeing the sun barely making its way up from the horizon. 

            "Gah, what time is it? Too early…" he forced himself up and stretched. 

            "C'mon, I have to sign up today and get to the opening ceremonies."

            "It's not until nightfall, for goodness sake."

            "Yeah, yeah. But I want to check out my competition. Besides, I have to do that stupid entrance test."

            "For what?"

            "Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you? Only 30 people can compete in each division, and there are a few hundred who've come to try out, so we all have to take a test, and the 30 best magic users for each division will be chosen and announced at the ceremonies tonight."

            "Oh, that's right. You never explained to me about these psychic magic people."

            "Over breakfast. Come on, I'm hungry."

            "Ok, I'll have… two orders of pancakes, a side of bacon, one of those waffle special things…" Lina mumbled. 

            "And an order of cheese sticks!" added Gourry. The waitress gave them both a dumbfounded look.

"What? A sorceress needs her energy for the test today!" The waitress just started nodding and walking into the kitchen. If one thing hadn't changed, it was their appetites.

"Ok, now, Gourry. You know that psychics are people who have extreme mind control, right?" He nodded. "Good. Now, psychic mages use their mind power to alter and control the magic they use. There are disadvantages and advantages to this. When they use a combo, they have to focus on two tasks, not one. Therefore, the magic spells won't be as powerful as if full concentration was put on them. However, when a psychic is really good and can use their abilities to a high level, they can manipulate anything and everything about that spell. Got it?"

"I think so..." The waitress came back with their food and set it down on the table. 

"Yatta! I'm so hungry." Lina wasted no time in digging in. Gourry was soon to follow.

"So, these psychic people…"

"I'll show you what I mean when we watch some of them in action today. The tests are open seating."

"That's good.  Isn't it dangerous, though?"

"I doubt it. Any really dangerous tasks will probably have the audience far away…"

"So, who's idea was this anyway?" the blonde asked with a mouthful of … something.

"What? The competition?"

"Yeah."

"Good question. I'll have to ask around, I guess. I wonder what time I have to be at the sign up booth. And where it is, for that matter…"

"FUNNY you should be pondering that, my dear lady!" came an unfamiliar, and unwelcome, voice from behind Lina. She yelped and whipped around to see… nothing. Her eyes darted back and forth until a stubby hand appeared out of nowhere in front of her face. She blinked before following the appendage to its origin and found a very small man standing before her. He was short beyond all reason, and round as well. She felt like she was staring down at a beach ball with arms and legs. He had on a floral designed T-shirt, shorts, sandals, and a straw hat that covered his hairless scalp. Quite the vacationer… He gave her a warm smile before inviting himself to sit at the table in an empty seat beside Gourry. What a sight that was… the tall and buff swordsman staring down confused at the cheery little plump man. Lina was too dumbfounded to even respond.

"Uh… who are you?" Gourry asked innocently. The small man just chuckled.

"Why, my name is Chukabu. Sir Chester Chukabu," he said. Lina's eye ticked. _What kind of name is that? Sounds like something a muse-deprived fiction writer would come up with_, she thought to herself. She shook her head of all thought and just blinked at the man. This was so surreal for some reason. "I work with promotion for the committee. Anyway, I reckon you're here to enter the contest?" he asked, that same happy grin plastered onto his shiny round face.

"Yeah… I am," Lina replied, eyebrow raised.

"Here's a map and pamphlet of today's events. You should sign up as soon as possible. You have to pass the preliminary evaluation before taking the test." He handed her the odd pile of papers, big and small. She scanned over it a few times, every now and then looking up and eyeing the man curiously. He just sat there… forever smiling… it was starting to creep her out. 

"Alright. I guess I'll go right after breakfast, then," she finally concluded. His smile widened --although she didn't think that was possible-- and he spoke again.

"Glad to hear it. Do your best. Rumor has it you're a favorite. Wouldn't want to disappoint the fans and not make it in." He gave her a slight wink before excusing himself from the table and moving on, perhaps to harass some other unknowing group. Lina followed him with her eyes as he walked out and then turned back to the table, now covered in multicolored papers. 

"Well, that sure was weird," Gourry finally said after a few minutes.

"Yes and no. This _is the first time anyone's tried something like this, and while it seems popular with spectators, of course possible entrants are going to be weary. They've got to convince those teetering on the decision that it's worthwhile to join. So guys like him have to go out and pull the whole 'oh, if you don't join now, you'll miss out on the event of a lifetime' type deal. However… he was just strange."_

"That's for sure. But wouldn't the prizes be enough? I mean, it got you here, didn't it?" Lina sighed. He's always asking questions… but at least he sort of had a point. She pulled out the main application and began to fill it out. Gourry started to sift through the other papers to see what they could do that day after she didn't answer.

"Ok, let's see. Name. Lina Inverse. Age. Twenty…. gender, female, bla bla bla. Ugh, this is so tedious." She continued to answer scores of questions like "food allergies" and "other participating family members", the latter of which made her wonder if her 'dear' sister had any idea of this. She also came across a few odd ones such as "have you ever raised chickens for commercial benefits?" and  "have you ever found yourself at the bottom of deep crater with no idea as to how you came to be there". She was temped to answer them humorously but decided it would be in her best interest not to. 

"Hey, Lina! Check out this one postcard. That guy's in it…" he handed her the small card. 

"Who?"

"Sir Chocobo or whatever."

"Chukabu. Yeah that's him all right." She continued the application after shrugging off the irrelevant diversion. A few minutes passed before he spoke up again.

"Hey, Lina. It says here that a representative from Seyruun will be making a speech at the opening ceremonies. I wonder if it'll be Amelia."

"No, it'll probably be Phil." She got back to answering questions. Sure enough, a few minutes later…

"Ooh, Lina…"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!?!?!" He blinked.

"Why are you mad?" he said, eyes widening. She bit her lip and tried to control her annoyance. 

"I'm sorry. What is it, Gourry?" she said in forced politeness.

"Look at this." He handed her yet another piece of paper. This one had information on a sword fighting mini competition. She knew exactly what he wanted the second she read the first line.

"Do you think you could handle it?" she asked.

"Of course! C'mon, we've seen the world about to be sucked into oblivion a few times. What's a friendly contest among peers?" He beamed. She just looked back amused.

"Well, if you really want to, then go right ahead," she mumbled as she began to pick up her things. She motioned for the waitress to come, paid the check, and grabbed Gourry to go and check out what there was to see.

            It was a long, long line. So much for sorcerers being weary. There had to be more people waiting there to register than Lina had thought would even show up to the thing all together. She started to do the math in her head. Three divisions: White Magic, Offensive/Defensive Magic, and Psychic. Thirty contenders in each category. That meant ninety people would be competing. But there had to be at least a few hundred there. Maybe even a thousand.

            "I'm bored," Gourry complained. He, like 80% of the waiting victims, was sitting on the ground in line under the beating sunlight. Despite the heat, however, Lina was pacing back and forth in front of him, covering up her unusual nervousness with the usual impatience.

            "Quit bitching," she grumbled. "How do you think I feel? I'm the one competing, you know!"

            "Yeah, I do know. Why do I have to wait, too?" A pout formed on his face and Lina twitched. As a friend, she thought, he should wait with her. But his complaining was borderline whining, and having company wasn't worth dealing with Gourry when he acted like a preteen. So she just sighed and gave in.

            "Fine, go. Make yourself useful." He paused a few moments, half expecting a lecture or beat down or something of the sort. Seeing that she meant it, he got up and practically skipped away. She blinked, slightly offended by how quick he was to just leave, but took his place on line anyway. She sat on the ground, crossing her arms and legs, putting on a pout herself. 

            "Arg, doesn't ANYBODY have any suspicions at all about this? Then this wouldn't take so damn long."

            "Well, fancy meeting you here, Miss Lina!" She picked up her head, wiping away the red bangs that were clinging to her skin, and was just about face to face with Sir Chuka-beachball (which was kind of sad, because she was sitting). 

            "Er…hi. Sir Chukabu…"

            "Please, call me Chester."

            "Alright then, _Chester. What's the big surprise? You wanted me to sign up, right?"_

            "Oh, indeed I did. But I have something for you, and I'm glad we crossed paths." With that, he handed her small card, which was a shiny golden color on both sides. It had nothing written on it except for a long series of numbers. Some sort of code or ID, she supposed. 

            "Um… thank you." She noticed a few hushed whispers and glances in her direction, but decided to ignore it.

            "I suppose you don't know what to do with it, eh?" She shook her head. "Well, follow me then." Reluctance came over her. She didn't want to lose her place in line, but something told her to go anyway. So she stood up and trailed behind the little man. They walked up the line. Every now and then, someone would turn to watch and when they saw the card in her hand, they'd give a quick glare of envy. She ended up shoving the thing into her pocket.

            "Where are we going?" she finally questioned. 

            "To get you signed up, of course". She stopped suddenly.

            "But wait. I was already…"

            "That little card is a pass, Miss Lina. It allows you to go straight in, pretty much." He smiled again, and beckoned her to continue walking. _No wonder people were looking at me like that, she mused_. But this must mean that everybody knows about these cards. I sure didn't…__

            She found herself on another line, this one only occupied by two other people besides herself. They, too, had the gold cards. The desk was underneath a canopy, which was a welcomed plus. The sign above it read "Selected Gold Members." Lina turned to ask Chester about it, and why he had given it to her, but when she did, he was gone.

            "So, I see you're a lucky winner!" came one of the other contestants-to-be. He was tall and built, his arm muscles about twice the size of Gourry's. His face was tan and unshaven, and his eyes were dark grey. Yet he and a kind demeanor about him, and it sort of reminded her of Phil. 

            "Yeah," was all she could think of to reply.

            "What did you do to get yours, hm?"

            "What? I didn't do anything. Some guy gave it to me."

            "Woah! Lucky indeed! Do you know what that card is?"

            "A pass to not have to wait for hours?" The man let out a chuckle, amused by her answer. She got the idea that he figured she was joking. He watched her for a few moments, as if waiting for he real reason, but a young woman in the other line chimed in instead.

            "What _are they for?" she questioned._

            "These are very limited," he started in a proud, matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Only about twenty of them, I heard. You get one by either doing something charitable or by being a favorite." He turned to Lina again. "I'm sorry. I suppose I figured you had done something to get it. You know… you didn't look like the formidable type. But you must be a favorite if someone just gave it to you. Goes to show, good things come in small packages, right?" He laughed again, amused at himself this time. Lina, of course, was not. She secretly hoped to face him so he could see how good THIS small fry was. Normally, she would have done something painful, but it was far too hot, she didn't want to risk getting disqualified before even starting, and it was her turn anyway. 

            "Welcome to the League, Miss. May I see your application?" the women asked with a rather obnoxious sweetness to her tone. Lina handed her the small packet. After the women skimmed over it a bit, her eyes widened and she looked up at Lina in slight shock. 

            "Well! I must say! Lina Inverse! This is certainly going to be an interesting show!" She was a bit louder than Lina would have liked. As expected, suddenly everyone was whispering again, but this time things like "oh, I'd be afraid to go against her!" and "Maybe I should quit now." Lina smiled inwardly to herself. _Interesting indeed, she thought. __The infamous dragon slayer is here!_

*******Closing Credits*******

**A/N**: Yay. Chapter one! Lets see….author comments. ::ponder:: Well, I didn't want the first chapter to be TOO boring, so I tried to stick to mild humor to keep it interesting. Yay for Lina and conflicting emotions! She's such a ham. ^-^

 Not too much to say. Chapter two is written and ready for upload as soon as I get a chance.  

**Review Corner**: Well, since it's chapter one and I have no reviews yet, this section of the closing credits. Basically, I'll answer any questions you guys have and/or just comment on the reviews you leave! I think it's important to keep ties with you guys, the readers, cuz you're what makes a fic successful. So, always look forward to that! I usually comment on everyone unless there's too many reviews, which I doubt there will be. :D

**Ch2. Preview**: Lina checks out a few of the entry tests to get a feel for what they're like. She overhears some gossip about a possible scandal going on behind the scenes regarding the competition. To top it off, she gets threatened by an official who warns her to forget about what she heard. Dun dun DUN. Lina's in trouble now! What will become of our heroine and her companions? Find out in **Chapter Two: Scandal on the first day? **

How's _that_ for cheesy announcer? X3

So, what do you think?

~Isa


	2. Scandal on the First Day?

**A/N**

I want to thank you guys for the reviews you left! Here's chapter two for ya. Not too much dialogue. It's mostly story telling, but we've got some action coming it with the entrance test. Plot twists come in, too. Some mild fluff toward the end. Yay. ^-^ Don't forget to read the closing credits for fun stuff and more info! Enjoy. 

*****

The stadium was rather large, probably able to fit about two thousand people if filled to capacity. Despite the room, however, there probably wasn't more than two hundred or so. Lina was among them, sitting alone snacking on some sandwiches and a bottle of fruit juice. The test still hadn't begun and it had been at least half an hour since the scheduled time for it to start. She sat there staring up at the sky, which was, once again, brilliantly blue and cloudless. She sighed, feelings of boredom taking over her head. First boredom with waiting and then boredom of the constant good weather and boredom of Gourry always wanting to go off and do something stupid. Yeah, she was pretty damn bored. 

She finally removed her gaze from the sky to the center of the stadium, where four large cages sat, heavily guarded by a slew of about 30 or so staffers. Every now and then, a large grunt or bang would come out of one, and the group would swarm to appease whatever was inside. Lina had thought about what sort of creatures were in the cages, but that got boring after about five minutes. It was pretty distant and she couldn't get a good look through the bars. She fiddled with a small band around her wrist. It was given to her by the staff when she entered and apparently was to prevent the audience from using magic and interfering with the test. Of course, Lina had to test it out. While she was still able to cast some low level spells that wouldn't catch anyone's attention, it took quite a while and a good amount of energy. She felt it wasn't worth the effort.

Lina was relieved to see a short middle aged man come out from a dark entrance in the seating. He used a spell on himself to make his voice louder. Lina felt her heart flare up with excitement as he began to speak.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! We thank you for coming to view this examination, test 37-D of the Psychic Mage category. Please remain quiet during the exam as to not disturb the contestants and dragons that will be used. A shield has been erected to keep any outside forces from interfering with the exam." Lina was impressed at this. She hadn't been able to see or sense any sort of energy shield around the center of the stadium. For a fleeting second, she wondered if it was really there of they were just saying that. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when he continued to speak.

"Let me introduce to you the four competitors! Please come out now." At the four contestants came marching out from the same dark doorway, each one clad with a purple sash around their waist that also had a small gem on one end. She squinted to get a better look and noticed that one of them stood out like a sore thumb. Three were men, all tall, one of them lanky and thin and the other two muscular. Lina guessed their ages to be late twenties, early thirties. The last was a young girl, also tall, and cut. She had long black hair tied tightly into a braid. She looked to have the physique of a swimmer. Despite this, Lina wondered how she could stand a chance against the others. She was small compared to them, and also looked a bit scared and weak. She could overhear other people nearby commenting on her, saying she was crazy and there was no way. Lina wouldn't want to admit it, but she felt the same way. Still, she hoped that maybe the girl would win. 

"The contestants will be required to complete three tasks. They will be judged on their skill and power, and given points and style and how they complete their tasks. Additional points will be awarded for speed and based on the difficulty of each task. Contestants, are you ready?"

"Yes," they all said in unison. 

"Then let the test begin!" 

The exam started simply enough. There were four mages opposite the contestants who cast flare arrow and sent the spells hurtling at them. One by one, the four used their psychic powers to manipulate the spell and direct them to hit a target as accurately as possible. The thin man did the best hitting the bull's-eye directly. One of the two stronger men was the second fastest, but missed the target completely. The other one hit it fairly accurately. Lastly came the girl who got the bulls' eye as well, but was the slowest. 

They all ran to the next station, which was on an elevated platform in the center of a circle that had four points marked. Here, they began to cast their own fireball and sent them flying out in front of them in different directions. It looked as if they'd hit the audience, but then each fireball was surrounded by a purple aura and slowly hovered to a stop. They began to shrink, some faster than others, but eventually were so small Lina could only make out a tiny dot. The four balls were sent into the ground on four marked spots and set off a extreme explosion. The girl's happened to be the second largest, beaten only by the thin mage who was proving himself to be the best. After the debris from the blasts cleared, they all jumped down and ran over to where the four cages were. The cages swung open and out came four adolescent lesser-dragons, all quite agitated and violent. 

Lina's eyes widened. She had no idea how on earth they could control the things. But as she watched, the girl had managed to calm one of them down. She was talking to it, looking it straight in the eye, and soon enough had it under her command. While the other three continued to struggle with their own dragons, she hopped onto hers and flew up high above the stadium to where a small tray stood floating with four balls sitting in it: one gold, silver, copper, and glass. She grabbed the gold one and then held it up above her head where she fficially took first place. Lina watched on amazed and awe-struck at the whole thing. She had no idea how on earth ANYBODY had thought up of a test like that. She was even more shocked at how fast it had happened. I couldn't have taken more than ten minutes. 

After a short time, the other three men had taken claim to their prizes: skinny mage taking second, and the two big guys taking third and forth. Lina was extremely proud of the young girl and decided she'd go over to congratulate her on the victory. She began to pack up her random odds and ends into her bag when she overheard some conversation.

"Hey, did you here about what Lucas said a few nights ago at the pub?" came a low, hurried voice from a few seats behind her. Lina turned her head just enough to catch the site of two scruffy looking middle-aged men with pot-bellies sitting next to each other. She turned back to her bag, going much more slowly now. 

"No, I wasn't paying any mind to that ol' drunkard. Nobody does. Why do you bother listening to 'im, eh?"

"He's got some interesting stories to tell, Keon. You ought to pay attention—"

"Yeah, yeah. Get on wit' it, why doncha?"

"Anyway, he said something about a secret plan coined up by Rester."

"You mean the chairman? The one that started this whole thing?"

"Sure do! Apparently, he wants to know who the most powerful sorceress in the world are. That's why he came up with the competition. He's going to try and take over the planet…" At this, the man Keon started to let out a loud guffaw that shook the benches. Lina winced and was tempted to cover her ears but decided against it.

"Take over the planet, you say? That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard! That ol' bloke is out of 'is mind, if ya ask me."

"Shhhh! Keep it down, you bumbling idiot!" 

"For what? Are you afraid ol' Rester is going to come and take you to your mum? GAHAHAHA!" 

"God dammit, Keon! Shut your damn mouth already!" Lina noted a hint of panic in the man's voice. 

"Oh, I'm so scared, they're going to take over the planet! What ever shall we do? YAHAHAHAHAHAH! Wooo, you really crack me up, ya know that?" Keon's friend said nothing. He just sat there looking at him incredulously. "Oh, don't look like such a scared rabbit. You can't tell me you believe that, now?"

"I'll admit at first I thought it was just some pointless ramble. But notice how he hasn't been back since?"

"They probably threw 'im out for disturbing the peace or what have you." The other man just sighed and focused his attention back to the field. There was a large crowd now surrounding the four contestants, especially the girl. Lina figured she's see her around and decided to just sit and wait for the next test to begin. There was nothing left to do anyway… 

Within a few minutes, Lina found herself dozing off, her head slowly falling backward onto the empty bench behind her. The sun beat down on her face from almost directly above and the heat just acted as a catalyst to her drowsiness. Her eyelids grew heavy as she felt her mind slip into blissful rest until a loud THUD broke her out of her near sleep. She scowled and turn her head toward the commotion. Her eyes shot open at what she saw. 

The two men where there, Keon with a bruised and bloody face and the other out cold on the floor. Next to them were three men, all in official looking uniforms and sashes tied around their waists, similar to the testing contenders but a deep blue color. One of them violently shoved Keon forward and then returned to help another official carry his friend off. The third stood there overlooking the whole thing. Lina quickly turned away, her heart racing almost as fast as her mind. While she had no intention of believing the story before, now it was hard for her to feel there was no validity to it. 

A sudden chill flew up her spine and as much as she wanted to resist, she turned her head back to where the struggle had been. And he was staring at her. Straight at her, right into her eyes. His were a cold icy blue, expressionless and almost empty. He was much younger than she would of thought: probably mid twenties or so. His face was strong and handsome, but his eyes were sharp daggers that seemed to slice into everything they set their gaze upon. She knew instantly that they were the source of the chill she had gotten. But once again, a loud interruption, this time a BANG coming from the center field, had broken her thoughts and caused her to look ahead of her. She blinked a few times, unable to focus on what had made the sound. And again, for the last time, she turned her head towards the seats behind her, but this time, they were gone.

She looked around and noted that the stadium was practically empty now aside from a few straggling viewers like herself and a rush of workers setting up the field for the next test. She realized that she had indeed fallen asleep and was probably there for some time before she woke up. And while the summer sun still blanketed her with warmth, her body was covered in goose bumps and she was very, very cold. She shot up, grabbing the last of her belongings, and ran out of there. 

***

"Let's see… I'll have three ice cream sandwiches and a vanilla shake. "

"Er…is that all?"

"Yeah."

"23 silver coins please!"

Lina found herself indulging in one of her favorite pastimes: food. It was practically evening now and she spent most of the day just wondering around being useless. She was slowly making her way towards the eastern side of town where Gourry said he'd meet up with her. A small restaurant called "Joe's Bayside Bridge Club." … 

She took a seat at a table on the balcony overlooking the bay which led to the sea. The sun was setting off to the right and it was quite the picturesque scene. The sky was painted with purples and pinks, bright oranges, and deep reds. This led her to think of blood. And that led her to think of what happened that morning…

"Dammit!" She slammed her fist down on the table and then her head. It's what she had to deal with all day. Trying so hard to forget what had occurred and being able to for a short while until SOMETHING reminded her. Her frustration was getting the best of her and she shoved a chunk of ice cream into her mouth.

"Hey, Lina! How was your day?" Gourry had finally showed and took at seat at the table across from her. She angrily turned her head towards him, refusing to remove it off the table, and gave him the look of death. He just blinked and then smiled.

"Wow, you look almost as bad as if you just woke up…" He paused and thought about this. "Nevermind, nothing's that bad." She just rolled her eyes and finally lifted her head.

"It sucked, if you must know."

"Oh, sorry to hear that…. Care to tell?"

"Er… nah, it's… not that big a deal…" She wasn't quite sure why she didn't want to say anything.

"Hmm. Well, then. I've got to show you something! It'll cheer you up. Come on!" He jumped up from the table and grabbed her arm. She just followed, not really in the mood to protest or ask. He brought her to this open area inside the town where a small dance floor had been set up. There were a lot of people dancing and being happy and perky. It made Lina sick and she looked up at Gourry.

"What is this all about?"

"Doesn't this look like fun?" he asked. She looked back at the happy people as they slowly made their way closer to the party. It did look fun. Fun and happy which was quite the opposite of how she was feeling and thus, made her feel worse.

"Sort of."

"Wanna dance?" At this, she felt blood rush to her face and she shot up straight. She looked at him wide eyed and surprised.

"D..dance?"

"Uh..yeah. Dance. You know… like…dance?" He did a sort of jig thing as if to explain what the word "dance" meant. She just kept staring at him. Sudden defense mode sprang up and she crossed her arms.

"I don't dance. That's for kids. Jeez, you can be so childish sometimes." He just shrugged.

"It's not for kids. There are people older than us dancing! You can be such a party pooper sometimes." He crossed his arms to mock her and put on a pout. She couldn't help cracking a smile, but _only_ after she knew he wasn't looking. 

He noticed a small girl of about seven sitting by herself and watching the dance floor longingly. So he went over and asked her to dance. She blinked and looked up at him before smiling widely and accepting his offer. Lina just watched on, still smiling. _ What a doof_, she thought. She took a seat at an empty table and looked around. She didn't want to admit it, but the lighthearted atmosphere definitely lifted her spirits a bit. 

But after a few minutes, she got bored. _What's with me?_ she thought to herself. She certainly felt like she hadn't been herself since she arrived at this whole thing… She let out a long sigh and then thought about the conversation that morning. With an exasperated "ARGH!" she dropped her head into her hands and cursed inwardly. This wasn't her idea of a good time….

"Hello there, Miss Inverse," she heard from a very uncomfortably close range. She lifted her head and then her mouth had dropped slightly open. It was him…

It was as if she almost had something to say, but the dryness in her throat let no words escape. She knew she must have looked like a frightened little girl sitting there staring at him like that. But she couldn't bring herself to snap out of it. It was extremely unlike her and she didn't like it at all. "Glad to see you again. Having a good time?" She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off of his. He smiled and turned his head to the dance floor. "That's good to hear." He watched all the joyous dancers, his mysterious smile still there.

"People are wonderful creatures, don't you think?" he asked. She said nothing. He continued without waiting for an answer, the grin melting off his face. "However, there are many flaws in the human psyche. Mindless babble, for instance. People saying things without thinking of the consequences or whether what they say has any relevance. Stupidity. Sometimes, it's best if one pays no mind to such babble. It keeps the mind clear and the heart free of tainting. That is some of the best advice I was ever told. Do you understand?" She didn't react. She knew exactly what he was saying but didn't want to acknowledge it. So she sat there. Staring. He turned back and smiled again at her. "Good. So, are you here with someone? A boyfriend maybe?"

"No," she said bluntly, the only word able to come out. 

"Ah, what a shame. Someone as talented and attractive as you should be." He stood up and bowed before turning to leave. "Until next time, Miss Lina." 

She sat there, sweat beading from her forehead and her heart pounding again. She knew she was blushing madly, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. This was much more serious than she could have imagined. What the hell was going on? She sighed and rested her chin in her hands. Then she shook her head and looked around. Gourry was standing there a few feet away giving her a look she'd never seen before. She swallowed hard and gave him a nervous smile. After a few odd moments, he walked over.

"Who was that?" he asked more seriously than she would have liked.

"I honestly don't know. He was … I think he's part of … maybe he's staff." Gourry just continued to stare at her, seeing right through the words. She shrugged, her defense mode kicking in again.

"Oh well, no worries. It was about the competition anyway. Hey, I'll take you up on that offer." And with that, she grabbed his hand and led him out onto the floor.

*******Closing Credits*******

** A/N**: Yay, chapter 2! I'm really sorry it took longer to come out than expected. I had an anime convention this weekend for one. And I dunno, I had it written and it magically disappeared from my computer. Along with a random website I had made. I don't know what that's all about, and I'm not happy about it. 

Anyway, my thoughts: I like this chapter. Favorite scene probably has to be Gourry and the little girl. It's something I could just see him doing. 

Introduced some major plot points. And if you can guess, some major characters as well. Keep in mind, Lina and her crew are the main characters and I'm keeping it that way. The OC's will not run the show. They're there to move the story along. Blee!

I have chapters 3 and 4 outlined, and 3 summarized, so I'm looking forward to that! 

I really like the ideas for Chapter 4 and can't wait to write it. As a pre-preview, it's Lina's turn to take the entrance test and we get lots of action! LOTS of it. Oh yeah!

Hopefully, it won't be too long. Can't wait! My challenge to you: guess which of the characters in this chapter should be coming back. XD

I'll be in Florida for a week, so the next chapter should be due by…hmm, I'll say Sunday/Monday of next week. *nod nod* sounds good to me. 

** Rant:** I HATE FF.NET FORMATTING! AKDHFDLSKFJ@#*($YU!_(*@&#(*&*!!!!!! I had such a hard time getting this story to look HALF decent for viewing. Grrrrrrrrrr 

** Review Corner**: Yay! 5 reviews! That pleases me greatly. :p I get to comment to you guys! Woot. 

-Pogo: Phew, I'm glad I was able to keep them IC. I haven't watched slayers in a VERY long time, so that can be a challenge. But I have slayers Premium downloaded and 2 random episodes on my computer, so I just keep watching them over and over again to get the feel. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll stick with it. 

-Beedoo: Hey! Thanks for the review. The next chapter is here! XD Hope you liked it. 

-CT: Thanks for the compliment. First chapters are always a bit tough since you've got to get people's attention and all. Yes, I do plan on having Gourry's compete in the sword tournament. Whether or not it will have a big affect on the story is yet to be decided. As of right now, though, I think it won't. That can always change if I get an idea. And I also plan and bringing back our old favorite characters, some more than others. You undoubtedly will see Xellos and Filia, perhaps Martina and Zangulus a little later. Zel and Amelia are definitely coming! Check out that CH. 3 Preview. So look forward to that in future chapters. 

-Saki3: Woosh! I'm glad you find it interesting. This is good, I usually suck at that starting stuff!::Is relieved:: Promise, I'll keep writing!

-Mossygirl: Yay, another one. XD I'm glad everyone's finding the first chapter interesting. Well, I'll do my best to keep the humor going. My friend let me borrow Slayers NEXT again, so I can get the feel for the characters a bit better. Sorry this chapter didn't have much funny stuff, but chapter 3 is a bit more light hearted with Amelia, so expect humor and light fluff to ensue. 

-LitingTune: Saved you for last cuz you wrote the most! I am really glad you're enjoying my story so far. I'll try hard to not disappoint you. I actually enjoy this story a lot and the way it's coming out, which is a rare thing. I never like my own work! I'll keep updating as much as possible and look forward to your future reviews. *hug* Yay! I love to please people. XD And don't worry about threatening me. I need that sometimes to make sure I keep with my deadlines. X3 Thanks again!

** Ch.3 Preview**: Amelia shows up and Lina is thrilled to be able to spend time with one of her best friends. And as an honored guest, Lina's sure she'll be seeing a lot of the princess throughout the competition. 

But, alas, the lighthearted fun comes to a halt when once again, Lina find herself in the cold gaze of a figure who she thinks may be following her. Is it a good idea for her to continue to be a part of this competition? Would it be in her best interest to drop out? What is with these people…

That and more in **Chapter 3: Between Old Friends!**


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